Unmanned Systems

The Navy unmanned aircraft shot down by Iran was evidently a 2011 legacy Global Hawk transferred from the Air Force, not one of the Navy's new MQ-4C Triton aircraft derived from the Global Hawk design but optimized for maritime missions.

The Army is seeking information from industry for a new, long-range reconnaissance unmanned aircraft system.

The Army is preparing to demonstrate in September how robots can work effectively with soldiers during planning and execution processes under its Command of Robotics Systems, or CoRS, program.

The House Armed Services Committee is supporting the Air Force's plans to accelerate the Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology program for pairing with such manned platforms as the F-35.

The Army and the Defense Innovation Unit are working on a pre-decisional program to prototype and field over the next 18 months small, expendable scout drones from slightly modified commercial models.

Despite the Navy's efforts to convince lawmakers to make major investments in unmanned technology, House appropriators are proposing funding cuts for several high-profile programs in their fiscal year 2020 defense spending bill.

The Army's unmanned combat vehicle rodeo in Texas included six companies, some of which offered more than one candidate, putting 10 robotic systems through their paces in a technological maturity assessment for the Robotic Combat Vehicle program.

The Defense Department is looking to enhance information sharing on counter-unmanned aerial system solutions by holding monthly meetings between combatant commanders and service representatives in Pentagon headquarters, with a current emphasis on Afghanistan and Iraq.

The MQ-25 unmanned aerial tanker will incorporate an early version of the Navy's Common Control System, a first step in the service’s long-term effort to create software capable of operating surface, sub-surface and aerial unmanned platforms.